A Wedding Celebration

I don't know what it is but I can't resist taking pictures of my hubby and oh so cute nieces!!! This last weekend Mav and I were in Buffalo, SD to celebrate his aunt Roxie's wedding. We had an afternoon party with cake and build-your-own ice cream sundae's. I met David for the first time there and he radiated warmth and true kindness. Congratulations to Roxie and David and we are so happy for the two of you!! So back to my two beautiful nieces and my obsession with taking their picture...but how could I resist???? They had THE perfect job of helping out at the ice cream bar and made the most of their station. Hailey actually made an ice cream concoction that she couldn't even finish eating (anybody that knows Hails knows that she could live on sweets.) Lex did a very good job serving everyone and MAY have even served more than she ate! :) It was a fun, quick trip and we cherish the memories we made with our extended family.

Garden Inspiration

While at my mom's this weekend, I was inspired by all the wildflowers and plants growing around her apartment. She has these empty fields surrounding her building that are filled with plants and flowers that are native to North Dakota. I hope to someday garden with these plants and others that I will find along the way. I envision a space that looks not only natural but is made beautiful by these plants/flowers that are a part of the native landscape here. I just love the diversity, colors, and textures that can be found growing wild!

A place to sit and relax

We worked on the seating for the deck yesterday and were able to finish the base of the benches. They are actually pretty comfortable but we decided to add backrests to two of the sections under the pergola. I also plan on buying (maybe making???) some cushions for those two sections. What we have left to finish: backrests, top of pergola (more slats that will increase shade), planters, and brick stairs coming off the north side of the deck. We had our morning coffee outside on the deck today and it felt soooo good to be out there enjoying the beautiful weather!

Mav and I (and dogs) are off to SD tonight. Mav's aunt was recently married and is having a reception tomorrow afternoon. We are very excited to get to see Mav's family and actually go on a mini-vacation together!! Then Friday we are back to Bismarck for the weekend as Mav's softball team is playing in the McQuade's softball tournament. Wish them luck!!!

Laundry Room facelift

Here are the "AFTER" pics of the laundry room. My mom came on Saturday morning and we were done with everything Saturday night - just in time to spend approximately 4.5 hours watching both Twilight movies. We had a really fun time and it was nice to have the company and the extra set of arms. Thank you thank you thank you for all your help! I joked all weekend with her that this will inspire me to do more laundry... Besides a few minor things like making and/or buying a couple more storage bins and hemming my curtain (which btw was put together with hot glue, my new best friend) the laundry room make over is done. I LOVE how it turned out and although it may not produce more clean laundry, it does feel good to walk into a room that I have made my own.

A day in the life of Mav, Jenny, Duncan, and Grover

It's a pretty normal day around here but I feel a little bad for not keeping up on my blog lately. It's a work day for me and Mav's home working on the deck. He's making the frame for the sandbox that will be inset into the deck. I wish it were a nicer day, but at least it is cool. And with the rain, Duncan and Grover are doing their very best to get completely wet and dirty when they go outside. 

AND I am starting a new house project tonight. I am just going to spice up my laundry room a bit...nothing too life changing. It is one of the last rooms in my house that hasn't been touched but since I spend a lot of time there (how is that possible with only the two of us???) I figured it could use a face lift. I think we may be coming to the end of house projects. However, Mav's a die-hard "we can do this ourselves" so I may just be in denial. 

Here are some BEFORE pics for those of you dying to keep up with the Thompson's:

Ceder decking

I am so excited to say that we finished the first landing of the deck and it looks great! It has been so nice to be able to walk right out there and the dogs love not having to jump through beams to get inside the door. Mav and I work for the next few days and then gardening takes over on Saturday. But I am sure we will be back to working on the deck in NOtime.

Deck, Deck, and more Deck

SO...here we are, after another day's work. I think we made great progress today!!!! We are hoping to put in a full day tomorrow and then head to Bismarck for some more supplies. We both can't believe how big this deck is going to be!!! I will post tomorrow and hopefully then be able to give a better idea about what the design is going to be like. So far I have only managed to mess 1 thing up and I feel horrible - but Mav says the deck is still structurally sound (he just says to stay off of the southeast corner). j/k :)

On to our new ghetto doggie door...I was working in my office in the basement and decided that I had better go up and let the pups out. I had opened the door earlier but had pulled the screen so that I could get some nice, warm fresh air without the bugs. (Sidenote-I have already been visited by a bird-size bumble bee. I am not kidding.) When I came up I discovered that the pups had already let THEMSELVES out into the backyard. Duncan had pulled, pawed, and used his teeth and managed to pull (i.e. rip) the screen door open enough to get out. So this pic is my "temporary" solution to the bottom of the screen that Duncan had already chewed anyway. No way do these puppies rule the house around here...

Taking shape

We have been working all day on the deck, getting that much closer to being able to actually build the deck. We (YES, I did help!!!) finished sloping the ground around the house, installed drain tile, put down landscape fabric, and hauled in rock. We are about to start putting some of the frame of the deck together. I am soooo excited to able to enjoy my deck this summer!!

Boys and their toys

Mav and I drove to Alexandria, MN this weekend to pick up his new toy. I took this pic with my phone so it isn't the best but it still gives you a good look at his new bike. We bought it used but it was exactly what Mav was looking for and came with all the extras he wanted. I am very much enjoying Mav's excitement about actually having a bike and the smile that it has put on his face! :)

Mav's new post garden...

They are coming up everywhere!!! Mav and I were laughing at our 12 seemingly random posts sticking out of the ground - Mav finished setting posts today and although it still doesn't look much like a deck, there is progress!!